Uniquely Yours Craft Journal

Discovering Mixed Media

     I first got started thinking about “mixed media” when I became a secretary for our local “Friends of the Library” organization. Our group raises money to support the many programs our Library provides  the residents  (Puzzle contests, Book Sales, Cooking demonstrations etc.) One of the members is an artist who creates with altered books. The participants in her group make these gorgeous  displays  and I thought “why not me?” But I procrastinated!  After-all, I thought, my media is paper, ink, die cuts. I’m comfortable  – but I finally reasoned, we can all learn something new!

     So my journal is about me learning and creating mixed media.  I was daunted by the subject and, to be truthful, a little intimidated. But since the world of mixed media includes so many different materials and styles, I could not make a mistake. But I couldn’t get focused. I did give up for a while – playing  solitaire on the computer, reading, even organizing but deep down inside, mixed media was still calling my name. So, I decided to get creative. Taking a cue from Six Sigma (from my working career) I created a “Thinking Map”.  Thinking Maps help you organize your thoughts and to visualize the possibilities.  Now yours will look different from mine, because you have a different journal style and purpose.

     There are different styles of “Thinking Maps”: circle, bubble, double bubble, tree, brace, flow,  multi flow and bridge. The steps to take are:

•      Find  a large sheet of unlined paper. I used a  ( 8 1/2 ” x 11″ ) blank piece of white  cardstock.
•      Boil down your “challenge” to one word, in my case MIXED MEDIA.  I put the words in the center on the page and circled them.
•      Write down everything that comes into your head when you think of the topic for 5 minutes and just write. Draw a line to the word or phrases from where the idea came from.
•      Put your pencil, pen, marker down when the timer goes off. Take a break and then come back and view the results. Find the connections and see if everything applies. What doesn’t, cross out.
•      Transfer everything to a new sheet of paper. Your original thought/phrase is coming into focus.

Please refer to the following link to see different styles of Thinking Maps  http:/wikihow.com/Choose-Between-Different-Styles-of-Thinking-Maps and I will let you know what my phrases are and how I started my page.

~Sallie

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